How to Get the Poor off Our Conscience is an essay,with clear logic and a tone of irony,written by John Kenneth Galbraith who is known for his development of Keynesian and post-Keynesian economics as well as for his writing and his active involvement in American politics.
This article begins with pointing directly out that the theme or problem “How to Get the Poor off Our Conscience” has existed with a long history.AS for how to get the poor off our conscience,the author,in the second part of this article,brings up five historical solutions:according to the bible,the poor should be patient enough to their poverty of the current life so as to enjoy their future fortune in the next life; according to the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentharn,the greatest good for the greatest number,society does its best for the largest possible number of people,by which people can get the poor off their conscience; based on Malthusianism,poverty is caused by the undue and irresponsible sexual intercourse of the poor,so the poverty is the fault of the poor and nothing related with the rich; the theory of “survival of the fittest” of Social Darwinism provides the rich an excuse that the poor and the affluence are the results of the operation of the law of nature and God; Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover believe that assistance to the poor is inconsistent with the economic design and also damages the economy,by which the rich can also get the poor out of their conscience.
After the Roosevelt revolution a lot of substantial measures have been taken,however the author thinks that is,actually,a way to avoid thinking about the poor.In recent years,the search for a way of getting the poor off the rich’s conscience is not at an end.There are five current designs for people to choose:the government incompetence should be the reason for the poor; helping the poor only hurts the poor; public-assistance measures have an adverse effect on the motivation of the rich and the diligent; the freedom of the affluence is reduced while that of the impoverished is not extraordinarily enhanced by taking money to help the poor from the taxes of the rich; psychological denial to the poor can also be a method to get out of the poor from the rich’s conscience.In the end of this part,the author concludes that the modern designs except the psychological denial are all the variations of the historical solutions.So are some solutions or designs now welcomed in Washington,such as those proposed by George Gilder and Charles Murray.
In the last part of the article,the author points out that compassion,along with the associated public effort is in the interest of the conservatives to preserve and enlarge the social and political tranquility.